Keith in San Diego grew up in South Louisiana saying get down to mean getting out of a car, as in asking passengers whether everyone is getting down. In Cajun country, that use is likely a calque, a direct translation from French, where descendre...
A woman who went to school in New Orleans reports she was startled the first time she heard residents of the Crescent City talk about making groceries rather than buying them. Grant explains the French origins of that expression. This is part of a...